Ecteinascidia turbinata antitumor activity

The ecteinascidins constitute a group of very complex alkaloid tris(tetrahydroisoquinolines) with potent in vivo antitumor activity and were isolated from the colonian Caribbean tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata. The compounds are abbreviated as Et followed by a number that represents the value of the highest mass ion observed in the (+)-FABMS. Reports of the potent in vivo activity of extracts of that tunicate date back to 1969, when it was reported that such extracts gave T/C values of up to 272 vs P388, with four of six cures in one experiment, and they were also found to be powerful immunomodulators [72]. After a decade of effort, two research groups reported at the same time the structures of four [Et 743 (1), Et 729 (63), Et 745 (64), and Et 770 (66)] [72] and two [Et 743 (1), Et 729(63)] [73] ecteinascidins, respectively. The development of an isolation process that was efficient on a large scale allowed Rinehart s group to obtain additional ecteinascidins, Et 743 V2-oxide (67), Et 722... 

Ecteinascidins 729, 743, 745, 759A, 759B, and 770 potent antitumor agents from the Caribbean tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata. (b) R. Sakai, K. L. Rinehart, Y. Guan, A. H. Wang, Pwc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1992,89,11456-11460. Additional antitumor ecteinascidins from a Caribbean tunicate crystal structures and activities in vivo. For a review on antitumor compounds from tunicates, see (c) K. L. Rinehart, Med. Res. Rev. 2000, 20, 1-27. Antitumor compounds from tunicates. 

---